Artist Bio

Joel Philip Myers graduated with honors from the Department of Advertising Design at Parsons School of Design in 1954. After spending a year studying ceramic design in Copenhagen, Denmark, Myers earned both a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, NY. From 1963 to 1970, Myers served as Director of Design at Blenko Glass Company, in Milton, WV. From 1970 to 1997, he served as Distinguished Professor of Art at Illinois State University, Normal, IL. Myers has an extensive list of students who went on to establish themselves as noteworthy artists. Like Harvey Littleton, Joel Myers also possesses an encyclopedic list of awards and honors, solo and group exhibits, collectors, and publications. Awards and honors range from Honorary Life Member of the Glass Art Society to Fellow of the American Crafts Council, and Fellowship recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts. Among his innumerable exhibits are Joel Philip Myers & David Huchthausen (former student and assistant), Contemporary Art Niki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 1994; Joel Philip Myers, which traveled in Europe under the auspices of the Glasmuseum in Ebeltoft, Denmark, 1993; Joel Philip Myers and Students, Galerie L in Hamburg, 1991; and History of American Glass, co-organized by Corning and the Toledo Museum of Art, and exhibited at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, among other major venues. Collectors range from The Art Institute of Chicago, to The Museum of Decorative Art, Prague, Australian Crafts Council, and Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan. Myers’ work is characterized by exquisite craftsmanship and an extraordinarily strong sense of formal design.